Vivian Vande Velde
Vivian Vande Velde is the author of Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird, an
ALA Best Book for Young Adults, A Hidden Magic, and many other fine fantay novels. She lives with
her husband and daughter in Rochester, New York.

Sixteen-year-old Lylene, the heroine of Vivian Vande Velde's
The Conjurer Princess, and her sister Beryl are orphans, raised by
their aunt and uncle. When Beryl is kidnapped on her wedding day
in a violent assault by a group of armed knights, Lylene expects
that her sister will soon be rescued and returned. But the law
seems helpless, and six months later a marriage between Beryl and
her kidnapper is sanctioned by the Church. Outraged, Lylene sets
out to rescue her sister herself.

She bargains with a wizard to become his housekeeper, in return for
the magic powers she needs to set Beryl free. The wizard keeps his
end of the agreement, but like most fairy tale bargains, this one
has a catch: the magic Lylene gains is limited to making temporary
copies of real objects -- and in gaining it, she ages sixty years.

Alone and nearly penniless, Lylene gets into trouble when the money
she magically duplicates to pay her way at an inn fades away too
quickly. She is rescued by Shile and Weiland, a dangerous but
attractive pair of mercenaries, who agree to help her free her
sister. Adventures follow: pursuit by armed men who believe
Lylene is a witch, another encounter with the wizard, capture by
the knights who serve Beryl's kidnapper-husband, a dangerous
escape. In the process, Lylene discovers that it is not always
possible to be honorable when engaged in the business of survival,
and is forced to confront the darker side of her magical powers -- and
of her sister Beryl, whose kidnapping, it turns out, was not
exactly what it seemed.

Vande Velde's well-phrased narrative sweeps along at a swift pace,
capturing the reader's interest at once and never flagging.
Descriptions are vivid, secondary characters are sharply-drawn, and
the budding romance between Lylene and Weiland is nicely handled
(although some might feel a man in his late twenties is a bit old
for a girl of sixteen). Vande Velde works well in shades of gray:
she makes it clear there are no easy solutions, nor are endings
ever entirely happy.

The book is flawed, however, by an occasional sense of sketchiness.
While the central story is well-realized, the back story -- Lylene's
parents' death, her unhappy childhood with her unloving aunt and
uncle, her uneasy relationship with her sister -- is only hinted at.
More detail would have strengthened the narrative and provided a
stronger sense of character. As it is, Lylene is a somewhat one-
dimensional heroine, and because of this her confrontation with the
ambiguity of her magical powers lacks the depth Vande Velde seems
to be trying to convey. There are also some odd omissions. Unable
to regain her true age except by wishing her extra years onto
others, Lylene does so with few pangs of conscience -- until, near
the end of the book, Vande Velde somewhat hastily has her
acknowledge the moral burden of this action. And though the final
two-thirds of the story consists of one armed skirmish after
another (the book has a body count to rival an Arnold
Schwartzenegger movie), Lylene, a sheltered girl of gentle birth,
seems strangely unfazed by it all.

In spite of these weaknesses, The Conjurer Princess is an
enjoyable read, and is sure to be appreciated by the 12-16 age
group at which it is aimed.